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{
    "id": 606868,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/606868/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 338,
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    "content": "done by a team from outside the country who are experts in aviation and can be sourced from the International Federation of Airline and Pilots Association (IFAPA). It is the same team that did the same work for the South African Airways which was more or less faced by similar problems. This is one of the reasons the Select Committee would be important. It will look at the validity of the statements that KAPA are requesting because they are making a very rationale request. They are saying: “Yes, we have a problem, but do not take our word for the truth. Do not rely entirely on our word. Try and do some due diligence – forensic audit – to find out for yourselves what exactly is ailing Kenya Airways.” The other thing which has been brought to my notice and which is very important for the Select Committee to look at is that KAPA says that Kenya Airways has one of the lowest Cost Per Available Seat Kilometer (CASC). In other words, if you have a passenger boarding Kenya Airways going to Kisumu, Kenya Airways will incur less cost per passenger per kilometre going to Kisumu and back. This CASC that Kenya Airways has which is lower than all other airlines means that Kenya Airways should do very well in terms of profitability. Unfortunately although Kenya Airways has one of the lowest CASCs compared to KLM, South African Airways, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines and so on, it is not making profit. Indeed, as I speak, the debt burden of Kenya Airways stands at something like Kshs18 billion. While Kenya Airways management has been busy focusing all their energy to costs, they have lost sight of revenue growth. Kenya Airways has outsourced its cabin crew to another company whose identity we are not quite sure of. What Kenya Airways did is that it dismissed its cabin crew and then went to this private company which then recruited the cabin crew and then hired them out to Kenya Airways. So, Kenya Airways pays this private company for the cabin crew that it uses. This creates a conflict because some cabin crew did not go through this company. We have two types of cabin crew in Kenya Airways; those hired from this company called Career Directions Limited whose identity is rather dubious and then those who are not. The pilots and cabin crew who are not hired through Career Directions Limited are really bothered about this because it has brought in very bad industrial relations among the Kenya Airways employees. This leads to something that has been happening frequently; the flight delays and frequent cancellation of flights. Kenya Airways blames this on the pilots and the pilots say: “No, we are ready to work, but quite honestly, if some of us have been dismissed or sent on leave and we are not enough, surely we cannot work more hours than we should.” Kenya Airways should not go out and hire pilots who are less experienced from elsewhere and pay them less money, when we have experienced pilots who should be flying the new Dreamliners. Some time ago Kenya Airways ordered nine Dreamliners. We were all very happy because this meant that our national carrier was going to be in the company of Emirates and Qatar Airways. However, it is not enough to just buy; you have to see the cost effectiveness of what you are doing. Eventually after paying for three Dreamliners, they decided that they could not get the other six to join the three. This business deal is The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}